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Sometimes the open source equivalent is better. SmartTube is a much better app than the official YouTube app for Google TV / Android TV even though there's just one developer working on it.
Similarly, pirate TV/movie apps often have a much better user experience than the legit ones. Compare Weyd, Syncler, or Stremio+Torrentio to the Amazon Prime video app for example.
In both cases, the people who work on them usually care about the user experience and use the app day-to-day themselves, rather than being told to do whatever makes the most money for the company.
Sometimes, the developers also being the users helps, as in your example. Sometimes, it's a hindrance, where the developer will just create UI that makes sense to them, but not to others.